Joint Staff Annual Ethics Training

You work officially with a contractor whom you otherwise do not know. The contractor invites your supervisor and you to dinner at a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, a block from the White House. The contractor does not invite anyone else. The cost of each meal is valued at $21.00. May the supervisor and you accept the offer? - Answer- No, an employee may not accept a gift from a prohibited source that exceeds $20.00. Also, the gift was offered because of your and your supervisor's official positions. You are asked to sell tickets to subordinates in the workplace for a fundraising event sponsored by a nonprofit organization that helps military spouses. May you sell the tickets? - Answer- No, this fundraising event has not been authorized, and it is not a fundraiser among the members of your organization for the benefit of the members of your organization. Your supervisor is transferring to a new job and members of your Directorate want to get him a going away gift as a group. Your supervisor owns a sailboat and has already stated that he plans on being on the water fishing more than working so they decide to give him a GPS Fish Finder Radar valued at $500.00 as his gift. There are 50 people donating at $10.00 each so the cost will be covered. Is there any issue with this gift? - Answer- Yes, because the gift does not commemorate the supervisor's position or tour of duty and because the value of a special occasion gift is limited to $300.00. After 4 years of night school and nearly half a year waiting for the results of the bar examination, you have been admitted to practice law in your state. You decide that you have to keep your current government job while, hopefully, establishing your law practice. To do a first class job for the client, you need first class equipment i.e., good computers and printers, fax machines, etc. You stay late at the office each day to complete work on your pleadings, and you create a database on your computer to keep track of your contacts and cases. Is this an acceptable temporary solution? - Answer- No. Employees are not permitted to run, control, or conduct an outside personal business using his/her government equipment, on Government time, or at his/her Government worksite. Based your current official position, you were invited by a non-profit organization to an event that will be attended by 1,000. Of the 1,000 attendees, approximately 20 percent will be from the Department of Defense; 30 percent will be from the Legislative Branch; 40 percent will be representatives from academia; and 10 percent will be members of industry. The event will allow you to exchange ideas and views among the invited guests. The event is also scheduled to occur in the evening so you will attend the event on your own time. The value of this gift of free attendance is approximately $75 per person. Are you allowed to accept the gift of free attendance? - Answer- Yes, this event is a widely attended gathering, and before I attended the event, I coordinated with my ethics counselor and received written authorization to accept this gift.